Put In The Hard Yards
by BeTheChangeYouSee
Summary: Darcy's been really busy lately, what with being Tony' assistant and the New Accords and everything. She's almost on top of things - except she keeps missing out on date night and Sam's really missing her. Just a little cute oneshot about Darcy and Sam, and how they talk out their issues.


This is just a little cute oneshot about Darcy and Sam and their healthy & cute relationship. You don't need to read 'Of Man and Machine' of 'The Kid Thing' to understand this, but obviously you should go check it out because it's in the same universe.

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It was her head banging on her desk that woke Darcy up.

Shooting up in her chair like she'd been electrocuted, she knocked over her Hello Kitty mug and yelped as the contents spilled over loose papers and StarkTabs. Luckily for her sanity, the StarkTabs were impervious to all liquids courtesy of an incident with the robot DUM-E, and the papers were extra photocopies of Tony's 'Intro To Physics For PolySci Dummies' welcome notes. As it turned out, the notes weren't just useless for teaching Darcy about Tony's current projects, but for mopping up cold coffee too.

She sat back down in her chair when she realised that it was as good as it was going to get. Tiredness pulled as her like a wave, and her mouth felt fuzzy and gross. With a groan, Darcy rolled her shoulders, wincing at a pull in her left.

"Fri, give me the time," yawned Darcy, scratching her head absently.

"It is 8:37 pm, Miss," replied F.R.I.D.A.Y. "Would you like me to shut down the labs?"

"Shit," Darcy swore. Clicking her phone on, she saw that F.R.I.D.A.Y. wasn't joking about the time. Three missed calls, five text messages and 13 emails were testament to how late it was. " _Shit_. Fri, where's Tony?"

The A.I. was silent for a few moments before she replied, "Sir is currently sleeping at Workstation 2. Shall I rouse him and shut down the labs?"

"Yeah Fri, that's be great," nodded Darcy. She grabbed her coat from the back of her wheelie chair and slung it over her arm. "And while you're at it, ping Steve and get him to come get Tony, you know how grumpy he can be when someone wakes him up."

"Very good, Miss."

The lights shut off as Darcy stumbled into the elevator and gave the command for her floor. As she ascended, she sent off a text to Steve to check that he'd retrieved Tony and another to Sam to tell him she was on her way. Her phone pinged with another email notification, this one from HR about Intern Hayley From Down On Thirteen's baby shower, which she flicked away with practised ease. By then, Steve had already sent her a pic of Zombie!Tony slouching into their bathroom, and the elevator doors had opened onto the floor she shared with Sam and Bucky.

Passing Bucky's door, she headed for her apartment at the end of the hall and, with a quick fingerprint scan, she was turning on the entrance hall lights as she hung up her jacket on the coat rack. Past the entrance hall, the rest of the apartment was shadowy and dark, but the lounge wall was lit up by flickering images from the television and the floor lamp in the far corner.

"Babe, you up?" she called.

Darcy heard a shuffling on the couch before Sam popped up from behind it, blinking blearily into the light.

"Hey," he croaked, dragging a fist over his eyes, "you're late."

"I know, I know," she said. She leant over the couch and dropped a kiss on his forehead before making her way to the kitchen. Taking out leftovers from the other night, she told him through a forkful of pasta, "Got held up in the lab, Tony was on a bit of a binge."

Sam got up off the couch and stretched, arms braced behind his head. His shirt rode up slightly, exposing the hard muscle of his abs, and Darcy found her forkful of pasta missing her mouth and dropping down her shirt into her bra.

"Shit," she cursed, picking the pasta out and chucking it in the bin.

"You 'right there, babe?" he teased, a slow grin playing on his face.

"Just enjoying dinner and a show," she fired back. A smirk danced on her lips. "I can't help it if the show's so hot I end up wearing the dinner."

He rolled his eyes at her, that same slow grin lighting up his eyes and making her feel gooey inside like some hormone-riddled teenager. A second later, the smile dropped slightly. His eyebrows creased.

"Thought we had plans, babe?" he said. He sidled close to her, taking the pasta bake and fork from her grasp and setting it on the counter before wrapping his arms around her waist. "Dinner and a movie. This is the third time we've rescheduled this week."

"I know," she said. Guilt gnawed at her lip. "I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get caught up, but between Tony and the New Accords and Peter and Kamala, I've just been so flat out recently."

Sam nuzzled into her collarbone, inhaling deeply before saying, "I know. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to push you. God knows you've got enough on your plate without me being all whingey and everything."

"Hey," Darcy cautioned, stepping back from him, "no, you're important too. _We're_ important, especially to me. You're my person. I _love_ you, and I don't want you feeling like you have to tiptoe around me because I've been stressed.

"You're completely in the right to be annoyed at me right now. I've been a pretty shitty absent girlfriend lately, and you'd be right to call me on it. The Avengers stuff is important, yeah, but it's just a job," she finished.

He quirked an eyebrow.

"A job where people could die if we're not on our game," he reasoned.

Her own eyebrows raised, she countered, "I doubt it'll matter if a little bit of paperwork is late because I'm actually working normal hours for a change." Darcy pulled him close again. "I'll try and keep a closer eye on the time, OK? I might even ask F.R.I.D.A.Y. to run new lockdown protocols, God knows Tony needs a break too."

"Sounds good," he hummed, finding the crook of her neck again. He pressed a soft kiss there, humming against the sensitive skin, and she sighed into his touch for a moment before pushing him away and retrieving her pasta. With a betrayed look, he said, "That's cold, babe, positively icy."

"Not gonna lie, I am so hungry right now that I don't care," she told him. In a few rapid bites, she'd scoffed down the last of the pasta bake. She shoved the container in the dishwasher. "Have you eaten? Good, because I don't know whether I'd be able to stay awake long enough for you to eat something."

"Tired?" he murmured, coming up behind her and slotting comfortably against her back.

"Fucking exhausted," she corrected. She turned to meet him face on. "Bed, now."

"Yes Ma'am," he smirked.

From the glint she caught in Sam's eyes as he darted to the bedroom, she knew she'd phrased that wrong. She rolled her eyes.

"There will be no sexy-times, Samuel, I am a barely functioning log right now," she called after him. She could hear him as he laughed from the other room like the troll he truly was. "I'll tell Steve about how you really met Scott, you horny fiend!"

He only laughed.

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Hope you enjoyed! Let me know by leaving a review (constructive pls) or a like! Again, go check out 'Of Man and Machine'! It's got a different tone to this, but it's part of the same 'verse.


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